Jun 2019 – ROOTING ABOOT: Voyage to Veganism

Ranjit’s Kitchen, Glasgow

607 Pollokshaws Road, Queens Park, Glasgow G41 2QG

Tel: 0141 423 8222

https://www.instagram.com/ranjitskitchen/

Ranjit’s Kitchen is something of an institution in Glasgow’s south side. The head chef is Ranjit herself who creates the authentic taste of the Panjab and brings it to us in an informal and wholesome way. There is always a new daily sabji (curry) and daal to try, accompanied by two rotis (no rice), as this is the tradition for the region. We always choose one of each and Rooting Aboot suggests you order the special pakora because it’s the best in Glasgow. Tell me if I’m wrong.

Nobody does it better. Even Carly Simon would agree.

You can’t book in advance, which is no bad thing. The restaurant has four long wooden tables and you just sit down when space becomes available. As a result, customers don’t hog them or linger too long when it gets really busy. Everyone just eats, enjoys the food and kindly vacates to let others do the same. They don’t sell alcohol, so this place is a bam-free zone.

You never leave Ranjit’s hungry. Please roll me out when I’m finished.

They updated the menu to clearly show what’s vegan and vegetarian. Oh, and it’s cheap as chips too, which makes Ranjit’s such a winner in my book.

Shiny, shiny happy bathroom

Even vegans like a clean bathroom, you know. Although this isn’t the most glamorous of subjects, let’s face it, we all have to go in there and clean the place. And after many years of trying wishy-washy, hippy-drippy stuff, Rooting Aboot is happy to report that I have finally found a bathroom cleaner that’s the dog’s bollocks.

This stuff makes my taps sparkle and the sink, bath and toilet shine so much that I’m almost tempted to put my shades on (or get a lower watt lightbulb). It also ticks the required boxes: no residues, eco friendly, pet friendly and plant based. Please note that I’m not getting paid to advertise this, so behold the Ecozone.

This stuff is the business: https://ecozone.com/products/bathroom-cleaner/

Marine Conservation Society

Website: https://www.mcsuk.org

We’ve all seen the dispiriting images of beaches strewn with litter and sea life trapped and ensnared in plastic rubbish. What can we do about it individually and collectively?

The Marine Conservation Society “work to ensure our seas are healthy, pollution free and protected” and offer suggestions on how we can all do our bit to help the marine environment around our shores.

They are active in Scotland. To find out more click on the link below:

https://www.mcsuk.org/scotland/scotland

They do really important campaign work. Last summer they petitioned Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, to approve 41 new marine conservation zones in England and this has become a reality.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/31/uk-creates-blue-belt-of-marine-protected-areas-twice-englands-size

Every signature counts and it’s easy to add your name to these crucial campaigns. Their e-news is also worth a read.

https://www.mcsuk.org/campaigns/

Suissi Vegan Asian Kitchen, Glasgow

494 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6SL

Tel: 0141 339 9331

New kid on the vegetable chopping block is Asian fusion restaurant Suissi. Rooting Aboot was very excited upon reading their menu and headed to Partick to give it the once over. They use Facebook to advertise. Their menus can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/suissiveganasiankitchen/menu/

The main restaurant at the back of the premises is a smart, private and very traditional looking Chinese style restaurant. For starters we tried the crispy vegetable wonton, satay skewers and fried vegetable gyoza. We were blown away at the beautiful presentation. They tasted just as good as they looked, with a good combination of heat, sweet and salty to satisfy.

From left is crispy vegetable wonton, satay skewers and fried vegetable gyoza.

It’s also a great idea to let customers choose their preferred noodle and soup base combo. We had vermicelli spicy sour and ramen laksa. Both bowls contained green beans, tofu, spring onions and two crispy vegetable wontons. Very good value for money and incredibly tasty. It will take dedicated perseverance to get bored of Suissi’s soup based noodles.